text:
- EE pips Vodafone to the post on 5G launch, but head-start is limited.
- Consumer to join the party later in year, with BT Plus converged packages.
- Huawei dropped from the handset list, but still providing FWA hardware.
BT/EE launched its much-anticipated 5G service with considerable fanfare on 30 May 2019, heralding the arrival of the 5G era in the UK and beating rival Vodafone UK to be first to the post.
Achieving one of the goals outlined for 2019 by Howard Watson, BT Group’s Chief Technology and Information Officer (BTwatch, #303), the mobile operator switched on commercial 5G services in six cities (Belfast, Birmingham, Cardiff, Edinburgh, London, and Manchester).
“EE was the first to launch 4G in the UK in 2012. Now we are going to be the first operator in the UK – and one of the first in Europe – to launch 5G. I’m proud to say that on May 30 2019, EE is switching on the UK’s first 5G network. That will be the day that our customers can join us on our amazing 5G journey. ”
– Marc Allera, Chief Executive, BT Consumer.
Launch party – hit and miss
EE expended considerable effort on marketing its 5G launch, with no lack of razzmatazz, although some attempts to demonstrate the technology’s potential on launch day fell somewhat flat. For example, a BBC live broadcast between news presenter Clive Myrie and reporter Sarah Walton that used the 5G network in Central London cut out due to ’technical problems’. This somewhat embarrassing episode is now available in perpetuity on YouTube, with the reporter commenting that speeds were only 40Mbps. A separate broadcast by Walton for BBC News was more successful, recording speeds of 240Mbps.
Perhaps EE technicians were too busy sleeping off the effects of the launch parties: the night before the launch, EE hosted a gig by UK artist Stormzy, streaming the performance over the 5G network from Tower Bridge in London and broadcasting it on social media. Ahead of the launch Kevin Bacon, the long-running face of EE’s advertising, also played his part by showcasing the use of 5G-enabled augmented and virtual reality technology during the FA Cup Final between Manchester City and Watford. 5G commercials based on footage from the match commenced end-May 2019 during the semi-final of TV show Britain’s Got Talent.
EE and 5G: facts and figures
Mobile data-transmission speeds are expected to increase by around 150Mbps with 5G. EE said it is confident that some customers “will break the 1Gbps milestone on a smartphone”.
5G variants of EE’s new Smart Plan tariffs have been introduced (see also separate report), featuring between 10GB (£54 per-month) and 120GB (£74) of mobile data. 5G customers can opt for two simultaneous Swappable Benefits, including an exclusive, high-definition high dynamic range (HD HDR) variant of the BT Sport app (said to be worth £15 per-month).
5G-compatible smartphones available at launch were LG’sV50 ThinQ 5G, the OnePlus 7 Pro 5G, the OPPO Reno 5G, and Samsung’sGalaxy S10 5G. EE made a last-minute decision to exclude Huawei’sMate 20 X 5G smartphone and 5G CPE Pro router from the initial line-up due to ongoing controversy regarding the use of Huawei equipment and uncertainty as to whether the device software would be adequately and securely updated.
Mobile broadband plans, branded 5GEE WiFi, are available with the HTC’s5G Hub. These entail an upfront cost of £100, with 50GB of mobile data priced at £50 per-month (or 100GB for £75). The HTC 5G Mobile Smart Hub is powered by the Qualcomm Snapdragon 855 Mobile Platform and Android 9 Pie. The device incorporates a five-inch high-definition capacitive touchscreen, and offers 5G mobile hotspot connections for up to 20 users, with a 30-metre Wi-Fi range and a built-in Gigabit Ethernet port. It also features voice command, remote control, a microphone, and a speaker for playback, as well as support for 4K video streaming and low-latency gaming, with 32GB internal storage.
EE is also introducing the 5GEE Home Router, positioned as a fast and reliable, self-install, fixed-mobile substitute. The device is produced by Huawei, and provides wireless connectivity based on either 4G or 5G, depending on the strength of the local signal. EE is pitching the device as suitable for small office use, or in the home.
SIM-only 5G plans will offer between 20GB (£32 per-month) and 100GB (£52) of mobile data.
Business customers will be able to subscribe to sharer plans, with a mobile data allowance of 1GB-950GB shared across connected devices.
EE said it is upgrading more than 100 base stations to 5G per month, with The Mobile Network reporting that 1,500 sites would be 5G-enabled by the end of 2019, rising to 2,000 in 2020. EE aims to roll out 5G services in the “busiest parts” of ten UK cities in 2019: Bristol; Coventry; Glasgow; Hull; Leeds; Leicester; Liverpool; Newcastle; Nottingham; and Sheffield. Ten more will follow in 2020: Aberdeen; Cambridge; Derby; Gloucester; Peterborough; Plymouth; Portsmouth; Southampton; Worcester; and Wolverhampton.
The first phase of the 5G rollout is based on the 5G New Radio non-standalone (5G NR NSA) specification, which is anchored in the existing 4G network. EE will then move to a full 5G core, based on 5G NR standalone specifications in 2022, followed by Ultra-Reliable and Low-Latency Communications (URLLC – BTwatch, #296), network slicing, and ’multi-gigabit-per-second speeds’ from 2023.
EE unveiled two partnerships that it hopes will boost adoption of 5G. It launched an augmented-reality game, Harry Potter: Wizards Unite, in collaboration with gaming specialists Niantic and WB Games San Francisco, and aims to collaborate with Niantic on in-game content. EE is also working with Google on the Google for Startups Campus in London, with the aim of enabling development of 5G-based applications and services.
Three vendors in running for BT 5G core
As EE unveiled its initial 5G offering, Group CTIO Howard Watson indicated to Light Reading that a final decision was yet to be made on the vendors to provide core network technology for 5G as it moves towards becoming a widespread and standalone technology.
“[The network] will pilot during 2019 and we will start to do deployment probably in the middle of 2020. That new core will be 4G, 5G non-standalone and 5G standalone – it will have the capability to do all three – and we will have to migrate our 4G customers onto that. We’ll take most of 2021 doing that. ”
Rivals snapping at EE’s heels
EE may be the first 5G player, but rivals are squaring up with their own launch plans:
In early-July 2019,Vodafone UK (VfUK) belatedly and rather awkwardly introduced its 5G propositions, including its own tariff overhaul differentiated by now leading on speed (or restriction, for cheaper 5G options) and unlimited usage (for its headline, £30 per-month Unlimited Max option). It has now launched 5G in seven cities, with a further twelve to go live by the end of 2019, and plans to offer 5G-roaming in Germany, Italy, Spain, and the UK over summer 2019. VfUK is also offering GigaCube for homes, which may be similar to the 5GEE Home Router, again from just £30 per-month (for 100GB; £50 for unlimited, from November). Interestingly, at a time when EE is promoting its new Swappables, Vodafone appears to be pulling back from its Red tariffs, which led with bundled over-the-top content (now just extra-cost add-ons). Perhaps drawing on learnings from its international siblings, VfUK appears to be leading 5G on price and bountiful data, which could force EE to reconfigure away from experience and features, although both are initially working with limited addressable (and usable) areas that could at this stage be considered soft launches.
Three UK aims to start offering 5G-based fixed wireless access (FWA) services in London from August 2019, with 5G mobile and FWA services to follow in 25 cities later in the year.
O2 UK has also said it will launch its 5G network in Belfast, Cardiff, Edinburgh and London in 2019.
While EE’s 5G proposition is up and running, the fixed-line side of the Consumer business is promising a launch in autumn 2019 as part of a converged BT Plus product. BT’s enterprise customers are also expected to be able to add 5G services to existing telecoms packages at the same time as the Consumer launch.


text:
Downtown St. Pete's Urban Creamery is turning 2 years old. In honor of its upcoming anniversary, the dessert shop plans to show customers some pretty sweet appreciation in the form of a special discount and a freebie.
Guests who stop by to celebrate starting at noon Thursday can take advantage of one scoop of complimentary ice cream. However, if waffles are more their style, the shop's birthday cake waffle is available for purchase at $5.
Located on the 600 Block, Urban Creamery — part of the local Urban Restaurants Group family — is best known for its indulgent mashup of house-made ice cream and Belgian waffles (they're not just for breakfast, you know). But sundaes and milkshakes are also on the menu.

domain: news


text:
Published on the 24/06/2020 | Written by Heather Wright
Is it really a fail for Covid tracing apps?…
They were hailed as a critical component to end restrictions in a world grappling with Covid and the potential of other future virus outbreaks, but high profile failures of several government contact tracing apps are casting shade over digital contact tracing.
The latest to fall is the UK’s NHS app, which minsters had hailed as ‘world beating’. The app, which was three months and millions of pounds in the making, was tested in May, only to be dumped in June, with Secretary of State for Health and Social Care Matt Hancock announcing that the focus would instead switch to an alternative from Apple and Google.
Hancock blamed an impasse with Apple for the abandonment of the NHS app, saying it wouldn’t work because ‘Apple won’t change the system’.
‘Apple won’t change the system.’
iPhone apps go to sleep when not in use, and can’t be activated by Bluetooth. That reportedly lead to the NHS app recognising just four percent of iPhones, and 75 percent of Android phones during testing.
It’s a flaw Australian’s will be well familiar with. The Digital Transformation Agency has admitted that the Australian CovidSafe provided ‘poor’ – 25 percent or lower –communication abilities between locked iPhones at launch in April. The DTA has since included new code from the NHSX app to improve CovidSafe’s Bluetooth performance on iOS devices, including when the device is locked.
New Zealand’s offering, NZ Covid Tracer, meanwhile offers up no Bluetooth or proximity tracking. The app, which on launch was dubbed ‘manual contact tracing plus a little bit more information’ by Andrew Chen, research fellow at the University of Auckland’s Koi Tu Centre for Informed Futures, had recorded just 573,000 registrations by earlier this week, with 63,160 posters created by businesses, according to the Ministry of Health.
The app has received several updates since its late May release, including providing the ability to receive ‘contact alerts’ if you have been checked into a location at the same time as someone with Covid-19, and the ability to share the digital diary with contact tracers. A fix for the bug preventing Android users from scanning the QR codes was finally released this week.
Even Singapore’s TraceTogether, hailed as the leader in digital contact tracing, has stumbled. It’s locked on around two million users – still well shy of the 4.2 million needed to hit the magic 75 percent penetration some say it needs to be effective (others suggest 60 percent will suffice). It’s also reportedly having issues with Bluetooth tracing on iPhones, with Singapore reluctant to use the Apple/Google offering because of the limitations on what data can be collected.
Singapore is now looking at a ‘TraceTogether Token’, with 300,000 of the dongles being manufactured to provide digital contact tracing for those without smartphones. New Zealand too, is continuing to look at the use of a token.
The Brookings Institute, meanwhile, has cautioned that contact tracing apps are not a solution, saying it has ‘serious doubts’ that voluntary, anonymous contact tracing through apps can free citizens from lockdowns.
But all isn’t lost in the search for a workable contact tracing app.
In the UK, Hancock says their new offering – albeit with no indication of when it will be available – will blend ‘the best bits’ of the NHSX-developed UK app, which calculates distances between contacts more effectively than Apple and Google, with Apple and Google’s Exposure Notification API.
Apple and Google have put high stock in privacy, placing some restrictions on how data can be gathered using their offering, favouring a decentralised approach where data is kept only on the users phone. The UK, on the other hand, favoured a centralised approach, where anonymised data was held in an NHS database – something that proved yet another stumbling block.
Last week Italy and Germany launched their own apps, based on the Google/Apple model, with Ireland also pushing ahead with an app based on Apple and Google’s technology. They join a growing number of countries opting to take the Apple/Google route, including Switzerland (the first to develop an app taking advantage of the API), Latvia, Japan, Poland, Denmark, Saudi Arabia and Uruguay.
Apple and Google too, continue their work on exposure notification. The two companies released the API for apps to use back in May. That’s the API that’s now being used by all those countries mentioned above. It enables contact tracing apps from public health authorities to work across both Android and iOS devices, but it’s not a contact tracing app itself: Users still need to have an app from their country’s health authority. Android users can find it under Settings > Google , while for iPhone users, it’s under Settings > Privacy > Health. (If your iPhone is pre-iPhone 6s, released in late 2015, you won’t be able to receive the update.)
Later in the year, exposure notification will be added at the operating system level. When that happens, the system will continue to operate as it does now, but without the need for an app to be installed for the identifier information to be installed. Once a user has opted in, the system will send out and listen for Bluetooth beacons just as it does in the earlier version, but in this case without requiring an app to be installed. If a match is detected, the user is notified and prompted to download an official app, if they don’t already have one.
It’s a key move in pushing wider adoption – something that’s necessary for contact tracing to truly succeed – and provides a glimmer of hope for digital contact tracing.


text:
Doing The Math On MySpace: Who Gets The Failing Grade?
from the something-doesn't-add-up dept
It seems like MySpace is the media darling lately, following their buyout by News Corp. Even if it's unclear what Rupert Murdoch is going to do with the site, the media loves the idea that it's the new MTV. So, it's really no surprise to see Wired Magazine put out a glowing profile of the company that seems to have tossed any sense of skepticism out the window. In fact, the numbers presented in the story (without sourcing) seem extremely questionable. The article first claims that MySpace received more pageviews than Google in August. That's a surprising statement, and probably should be backed up by a source, but there's none. Then, it claims that MySpace actually has 12% of all ads on the web which seems extremely high -- and again, has no sourcing. Of course, even if we take that at face value (which seems pretty questionable), it's hard to square that with the very next statement (which is the only one that is sourced): "MySpace should gross $30 million to $40 million this year." So, they have more page views than Google, a significant portion of all online advertising... and yet they're going to make a tiny fraction of what Google makes in a single quarter? Also, by that math (assuming MySpace is really 12% of the market), doesn't it mean that the entire online ad market is equal to somewhere between $250 and $333 million a year? Either someone's done the math wrong or the management at MySpace deserves to be fired for their ad sales deals. Update: Jeff Howe, who wrote the article for Wired Magazine, stops by in the comments to claim that the numbers are legit and are from Nielsen. While we had no doubt he got the numbers from somewhere legit, it still seems worthwhile to question those numbers, as the math makes almost no sense. If you have 12% of all ad inventory online and you're only making $40 million a year, something very big is very wrong. As we said, it may be with MySpace's dealmaking ability or it could be something else -- but some big explanation is clearly missing.


text:
Speaking at the recently held ETAuto Tech Summit, Anil Srivastava emphasised that electric vehicles are the focus area of the government and soon incentives may be announced to support its infrastructure.
The refinery, if established, would process ore from the Mount Marion mine in Western Australia to produce battery-grade material for electric cars.
ChargePoint, which plans to run 2.5 million charging stations by 2025, says the standard would perpetuate an old 'gas station' model that automakers are backing as they launch mass production of battery-powered cars.
Production is expected to be implemented in Germany, one of the insiders said. Volkswagen declined to comment. The supervisory board was meeting in Berlin on the eve of the annual general meeting.
The Japanese conglomerate expects operating profit for the year through March 2020 to slump 27 percent to 300 billion yen ($2.7 billion) from a year earlier. That is well below analyst expectations of a 12 percent decline, according to Refinitiv.
Tesla Inc expects global shortages of nickel, copper and other electric-vehicle battery minerals in the near future due to underinvestment in the mining sector, the company's head of minerals procurement told an industry conference on Thursday, according to two sources.
France and Germany have earmarked 1.7 billion euros ($1.90 billion) to support several company alliances looking to produce electric car battery cells, a step aimed at reducing the dependence of European carmakers on Asian suppliers.
The 3.1 billion yuan ($462.07 million), three-phase project in Dongqiao is a joint venture between Xiamen Tungsten and Fujian Mindong Electric Power Co.
Macquarie sees the world needing an incremental 1.3 million tonnes of nickel over the next 10 years.
Tesla shares fell 4.2 percent to $264.45 in premarket trading on Thursday.
The company confirmed talks with Germany's Volkswagen for the first time, telling Reuters the pair were discussing building a factory together. It also said it was on the cusp of agreeing to build a plant in China with undisclosed partners.
Under this pact, the duo will offer green energy solutions which will be used in setting up of commercial-scale EV charging/battery swapping stations.
Fortum said it would become the first company in Europe to offer an industrial scale hydrometallurgical process for recovering cobalt, manganese, nickel and lithium, which can then be reused to produce new batteries.
"Volkswagen group wants to take part in Economy Minister Altmaier's initiative support the industrial production of mobile and static batteries," the company said in a statement.
Varta said it was planning to hike production of battery cells to over 60 million cells per year, adding that it was cooperating with European partners to advance European battery cell production.
In the discussion on 'Chemistry to Power EVs in India,' Atul Arya, Head- Energy System Division, Panasonic India said that in coming couple of years India should work on enabling a framework to promote all those battery technologies are not only cost effective but also fits in country's EV requirement.
CATL said on Tuesday it had signed a memorandum of understanding with Honda under which it would guarantee supply of lithium-ion EV batteries with storage capacity of around 56 gigawatt hours (GWh) to the automaker by 2027


text:
The Canadian bookseller Indigo recently opened its first American store.
The company, which has hundreds of locations in Canada, is growing rapidly by positioning itself as a “cultural department store,” reports The New York Times.
Swimming upstream in a book-eat-book world
Big booksellers have had a bad few years: Borders went belly up in 2011, and Barnes & Noble is trying to write a new chapter after putting itself on the auction block last year.
But Indigo, on the other hand, is growing: The company recently surpassed 200 stores in Canada, including 89 superstores.
So, how is Indigo doing such big business? The answer isn’t between the lines, but beside them: Books account for just slightly over 50% of sales.
A bookstore that doubles as a lifestyle brand
Indigo also sells candles, art, trendy lunchboxes, herb kits, knife sets, glassware, home goods, and fashion accessories in addition to books.
The company believes that selling products that are physical extensions of its books makes the entire book-buying process more appealing, and customers seem to be on the same page.
Despite its success, Indigo still faces a bookstore battle royal. Amazon has recently opened physical bookstores, and the number of independent bookstores in the US increased from 1,651 to 2,470 over the past decade.


text:
Time to say goodbye from all of us at bit-tech.net
Welcome challenger. Why not sit down, and play a little game?
Budget in price, mainstream in aspiration.
Now a PS4, Windows exclusive.
Sony has announced Playstation Now, a game streaming service, during its CES keynote speech.
CES 2008: Sony's press event at CES came with a free apology and a promise that the company has wised up and is listening.
October 14 2021 | 15:04
Copyright © 2000 - 2023, bit-tech.net. All rights reserved.


text:
New Honda Civic will be manufactured in Ontario
by CanadianManufacturing.com Staff
Honda unveils 2012 Civic SI Coupe
TORONTO—Honda revealed its 2012 Civic SI Coupe concept today at the Canadian International Auto Show.
The new model features 19 inch alloy wheels, steeply raked widescreens and upward sweeping character lines and will be built at Honda’s plant in Alliston, Ontario.
It will be available for sale this summer.


text:
Monday, 26 November 2018
Non-basmati shipments to get subsidy from Nov 26 to March 25
As a 13 per cent increase in minimum support price (MSP) for paddy slows down India’s rice exports in the current financial year, the Centre has announced incentive to boost the shipments of the cereal. The non-basmati rice exports will get a 5 per cent subsidy under the Merchandise Exports from India Scheme (MEIS) from November 26 till March 25, 2019, a Commerce Ministry note said. The Centre’s latest move to subsidise the non-basmati rice shipments for the first time since exports were opened up in 2011 assumes significance as the country is headed for a record harvest of rice, pegged at 99.24 million tonnes by the Agriculture Ministry in its first advance estimates.Also, the rice stocks in the Central pool as on November 1 stood at 16.25 mt, over 60 per cent higher than the buffer norms.
The harvest of paddy has already commenced in several States and the state agencies led by Food Corporation of India have already started the procurement of the cereal. “The 5 per cent incentive under MEIS will definitely enhance our competitiveness in the world market,” said BV Krishna Rao, President of the Rice Exporters Association, a trade body of non-basmati rice millers and exporters. The subsidy coupled with a weak currency would help us offset the impact of the MSP on exports and cover the shortfall in shipments, Rao said. The Centre had increased the MSP for paddy by ₹200 per quintal at ₹1,750 per quintal for common variety and ₹1,770 for Grade A.
Indian’s non-basmati rice exports have slowed down during the past couple of months and exporters said the hike in MSP had hit their competitiveness in the world market thereby impacting the exports. In the first half of the current financial year, the shipments were down at 3.72 mt (4.28 mt in corresponding last year) valued at $1.59 billion ($1.74 billion). The opening up of non-basmati exports in 2011 has helped India emerge the largest rice exporter for past several years. Major markets for the non-basmati rice are the African and Asian countries. India, which ships out over 12 mt of rice, now accounts for over a fourth of the annual global rice trade estimated at around 47 mt by the Food and Agricultural Organisation. India competes with Vietnam, Thailand and Pakistan in the world rice market.
India’s total rice production during 2017-18 stood at 112.91 mt and the government is targeting 113 mt this year. The FAO in its recent biannual Food Outlook has forecast that global rice production is set to increase by 1.3 per cent to a new high of 513 mt this year and India would be spearheading the growth in production.


text:
In fact, it's already happening. Research firm eMarketer says mobile wallets are "especially popular for smaller-ticket purchases" and cited a recent study showing that 84 percent of consumers are "open to using their smartphones to pay for small and medium purchases like a latte at Starbucks or a new set of sheets. It'll take a little more time for consumers to feel comfortable purchasing larger ticket items -- for example, a luxury good or furniture -- with a smartphone. One thing at a time."
Editor's note: Traction Watch is a new column focused obsessively on growth, and is a companion to the DEMO Traction conference series, which brings together high-growth startups with high-potential customers. The next DEMO Traction will take place in Boston on September 16, 2015. Growth companies can apply to present, or those similarly obsessed can register here to attend.
Sign up for CIO Asia eNewsletters.


text:
Grants that exclude small start-ups a barrier to 'mumpreneurs'
GOVERNMENT grants that exclude small, non-technical start-up companies are a major barrier to entrepreneurship for mothers, says the founder of Ireland's first training service specifically for mums in business.
"Enterprise Ireland supports about 95 'high-potential start-ups' in different business fields each year, but less than 10pc of these are female," says Mairéad Kelly. Her two-year-old company Cute Honey mentors "mumpreneurs," mothers who aspire to, or already are, running businesses.
She says government funding programmes that target tech and export-driven start-ups and have limited company status are not accessible for most of the businesses launched by mothers.
Still, single mother-of-three Ms Kelly says there is an impressive amount of Irish mums running successful businesses that also fit around family commitments.
"Women made redundant, or who may have left work to raise their family, are developing their own businesses from home to support family income.
"They often identify gaps in the market, or innovative products or services, from their own personal experience of family and business needs that are not being met," she says.
Encouraging entrepreneurship among all parts of the population is important for economic growth. The Ernst and Young Entrepreneur of the Year Alumni Survey shows that nearly 13,000 jobs were created by its 300 entrepreneur alumni in 2012 alone. Some 75pc of respondents increased employment during the year and together the entrepreneurs generated over €15bn in revenue.
Kildare woman Ms Kelly has assisted over 100 clients in the last year. She has over 10 years experience building and running her own businesses and also managed one of the UK's biggest party planning companies, where she was responsible for training and hiring a large and changing staff.
In 2011 she decided to merge these skills when she heard many of her old clients bemoan the fact that they could not get out to conventional trainings or early morning and evening networking meetings due to family commitments. They had set up in business because they had a viable business idea and also wanted to be able to spend time with their small children.
Yet they felt guilty that they weren't growing their businesses properly and contributing to the family income.
Or they felt guilty that they weren't spending quality time with their small children as they were constantly thinking about business issues when with them.
Kelly says the guilt felt by working mothers is a big challenge to entrepreneurship that her service tries to address. "Dads experience much less of this!"
Cute Honey provides training "that works around school and crèche runs," and offers several levels of training depending on the needs and progress of a business, from wannabe entrepreneurs to established businesses.
Specific courses cover social media, digital marketing and product and pricing alongside core training modules covering start-up training, time management and strategy and growth planning. This is currently provided through face-to-face meetings and follow-up phone assistance with both groups and individuals but Kelly intends to grow Cute Honey's online offering.
"Our site had visitors from 84 countries last year," she says. "We want to be able to provide the service internationally and even to Irish mums who can't make face-to-face appointments, using web training and Skype."
Clients include women running online and niche retail businesses, providing services from home like marketing, accountancy and life coaching, as well as several crafting businesses as this traditional practice has become popular again.
One such client is Stylemama, run by Dubliner Gillian Ryan, whose business sells pregnancy clothing to Irish women.
Cute Honey's training programme helped Stylemama to set up its website, now an important source of revenue.


text:
Oct 05, 2012, 11.55 AM | Source: Tech2.com
There are now one billion active monthly users on Facebook, and the California-based company has stated in its fact sheet that...
READ MORE ON Facebook acquisitions, Facebook buys Karma, Facebook Karma, Facebook Karma gifts, Facebook gifts, Gifts, real-life gifting, Karma, Karma iTunes, Karma gifts, Karma iOS, Karma Android, Karma Google Play, Facebook Help CentreFacebook milestone, one billion users, FB milestone, Facebook fact sheet
ADS BY GOOGLE
video of the day
Dont see mkt going anywhere now; like Bharat Forge: Dipen


text:
The all new 2010 Mercury Milan Hybrid is identical in almost every way to the new Ford Fusion Hybrid also being shown in LA. No big deal, it's a good car. The only real differences are the body panels and interior trim. The Milan Hybrid uses recycled materials to cover its seats, not leather. Is this in an effort to appear more environmentally friendly? Surely.
We'll go out on a limb here and say the Milan Hybrid — which will likely get 38 mpg in the EPA city cycle — will cost only slightly more than a Fusion Hybrid. And with the Milan joining Ford's hybrid fleet, the company brag that it now offers four hybrids rather than just two. And there are probably some people who will prefer the Milan's re-skinning to that of the new Fusion's. Expect to see the new Hybrids hitting dealers in the spring of 2009.


text:
Is China the next frontier for New York wines?
The new frontier for New York wine sales just might be half-way around the world in Hong Kong, and the doors could be opened by three men who visited the area last week.
Wine importer Justin Ang and Sommeliers Ming Ng and Jack Chan began their week-long visit to New York wine country on Long Island and finished it with three days in the Finger Lakes region.
Along the way, they were introduced to scores of wines which, if logistical issues can be wrangled, just might capture the attention of consumers in Hong Kong, Singapore and China.
The three men praised the New York white wines, in particular the rieslings.
Ng said he found the wines in New York to be a nice surprise. “I never knew New York had the variety. Their white wine — the riesling — is unbelievable,” he said.
Chan agreed, saying, the New York wines are totally different from those he’s had from Western U.S. “We thought it would be similar to other American wine,” he said.
Chan said he is looking for new products for his customers. “New York State is one of the new wine growing regions in the world and I’m working to find something new for the customers. The customers are getting smart and they are looking for new things,” he said, adding that Chinese wineries are making dry red wines. “So that’s the hint for the (winery) owners that the Chinese are not going to take the sweet wines. The sweet wines may be for fun, but they really want other wines.” He thinks the white wines they tasted last week would be perfect, but New York state winemakers and owners are “not that into the Chinese market. They think the Chinese are drinking the sweet wine.”
Comparing New York to the only other U.S. wine region he’s visited is mind-boggling, said Ang, explaining, “You have a lot of interesting winemakers. You have a lot of interesting terroirs and a lot of interesting micro-climates.”
With the per capita wine consumption in Hong Kong increasing by 95 percent and China’s increased by more than 15 percent between 2007 and 2010 (according to the Wine Institute, a California based wine industry organization) it’s no wonder there’s interest in finding something new for consumers to talk about.
Ang says one of the key issues is pricing. “Once they (consumers) look at price, they’ll try it. Then they will realize that this wine is worth more than that because everyone is fighting on price there.”
After trying the new product, consumers will begin noticing the label and the new region.
On the other hand, there are high-end consumers who look at branded products, something that might favor wines from Napa or other California wine regions.
The three men were hosted in New York by the New York Wine & Grape Foundation. Vice President Susan Spence said the goal of the Foundation’s export program is to increase awareness of New York State wines in the world market. “And Hong Kong is an incredibly exciting market to everyone around the world because they have lower tariffs. It’s a good market for our wines, price wise, and we think it would be a good fit.”
Ang says making New York wines available for Hong Kong consumers will take a team effort with producers and importers working together, which could take some convincing. “It’s a long process, but it has to be a team thing. It will be a hard cookie to break,” he said. But that cookie is beginning to crumble, it appears.
While in the Long Island region, the men visited with Leslie Alexander, owner of the Houston Rockets, who also owns vineyards on Long Island.
Leslie Wines grows Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, Pinot Noir and Chardonnay and produces wines that are sold in China, according to the Rockets website biography of Alexander.
Finger Lakes area wineries the men visited were Hermann J. Wiemer Vineyard, Fox Run Vineyards, Ravines, Casa Larga Vineyards, Sheldrake Point Winery, Damiani Wine Cellars, Hazlitt 1842 Vineyards, Lamoreaux Landing, Anthony Road Wine Company, Lakewood Vineyards and Wagner Vineyards.
They also tasted wines from the Hudson Valley wine region while on Long Island.


text:
Mumbai: After incurring a substantial loss in the March quarter due to losses at foreign subsidiaries, Mahindra and Mahindra said that it will exit several money-losing businesses, starting with US-based electric bike company GenZe.
The company will also stop further investments in its Korean subsidiary SsangYong and is willing to give up control in the loss-making venture.
The farm equipment and SUV maker reported a loss of Rs 2,510 crore for the March quarter due to one-time provision of Rs 2,781 crore made due to impact of the Covid-19 pandemic and write-off on several investments. About 80% of the write-off was on account of SsangYong and GenZe.
“We have taken some hard calls such as not investing (more) in SsangYong and we have also decided to exit the electric scooter business in USA (GenZe) and carefully examine other loss-making businesses,” said Pawan Goenka, managing director, M&M.
We are looking at potential investors and we are willing to give up ownership control in the companyPawan Goenka, MD, M&M
Mahindra has been looking for investors in SsanYong after it failed to turn the company profitable. Goenka said the international expansion delivered less than what the company had expected. “We thought we will be able to break even in two years - which did not happen.”
On the way ahead for SsangYong, Goenka said, “We have been able to reduce their expenses and manage their cash flows. We are looking at potential investors and we are willing to give up ownership control in the company.”
Not just SsangYong and GenZe, the company has promised to relook all its money-losing ventures and may exit several to reduce expenses.
The company said that it will segregate its loss-making businesses into three categories going forward – ones which have a clear path towards profitability in the mid-term, ones with an unclear or delayed path to profitability but having strategic importance, and lastly the businesses with no clear path to profitability or strategic importance. The company will exit businesses falling in the final category.
German luxury carmaker Mercedes Benz, which has recently launched its second electric offering EQS 580 sedan for India, said that while the electric car is manufactured in Germany, India is the only country to locally assemble the EV outside of the home country. With this, Mercedes will also be the first and only luxury carmaker to assemble an EV in the country, thereby giving it an edge over its rivals in terms of pricing.
According to a complaint filed by Vivek Gupta, the Chief Financial Officer of JBM Group, Sector 44, it was on Friday that he received messages on WhatsApp requesting to transfer certain sums to bank accounts indicated in the messages.


text:
Expects to double the figure in two years
Millionth electrified Bimmer delivered at BMW Welt in Munich
The BMW Group has just announced the delivery of its one millionth electrified model. The company calls it a milestone in the transformation of the company into electromobility and lowered emissions. Most impressively, though, with the first million taking eight years, it expects the second million to take just two.
Delivery of the millionth electrified BMW took place yesterday at BMW Welt, the automaker’s flagship showroom and event centre located in Munich. It was a BMW iX xDrive40 and the customers received not just their BMW, but a BMW wall box home charging station and a credit for BMW Charging stations in Europe.
“Thanks to our steadily growing product range, we are setting ourselves ambitious sales targets, in particular for fully-electric vehicles, said Customer, Brands, and Sales board member Pieter Nota. “In 2022, we aim to double this year’s sales. By 2025 the BMW Group will have delivered around two million fully-electric vehicles to customers. We expect at least one out of every two BMW Group vehicles sold to be fully electric by 2030,” he continued.
In the next year, we’ll get full-EV versions of the 7 and X1 with the Mini Countryman and Rolls-Royce Spectre the year after. The group plans for all Minis to be electric by the early 2030s and Rolls-Royce to be all-electric from 2030.


text:
Global Certification Forum announces first IoT chipset certification with u-blox
The Global Certification Forum (GCF) has announced that u-blox is the company to certify a product under its new IoT chipset certification scheme (started in January this year). This latest GCF programme is designed for chipsets covering NB-IoT and LTE-M and facilitates the easy integration of embedded chipsets into modules and devices. The u-blox UBX-R5 Cat-M1 chipset is the first product to achieve certification under the new scheme.
GCF IoT chipset certification was added to the existing IoT platforms and IoT modules programme at the beginning of the year, to enable certification of chipsets based on GCF approved test platforms under defined quality requirements, including GCF approval of the chipset manufacturer’s design test facilities. This gives the IoT industry a new level of confidence when deploying and integrating a myriad of different devices across multiple communication technologies and is the first in a number of initiatives which will be launched by GCF in 2020 to enable the confidence and growth of the IoT market.
“We are delighted that GCF has recognised the quality of our UBX-R5 LTE-M/NB-IoT chipset. This certification, a first under GCF’s IoT chipset certification initiative, demonstrates that we are setting a new benchmark for IoT connectivity, while paving the way for robust secure communication from the chip all the way to the cloud,” said Andreas Thiel, head of product centres, co-founder at u blox.
With the rapid expansion of the IoT industry, the introduction of a programme that demonstrates industry-recognised compliance with 3GPP standards is critical to ensuring the sustained successful deployment of the IoT industry. This is particularly important for mission-critical or long life-cycle IoT applications that the UBX-R5 Cat-M1 is intended for, also helping to shorten time-to-market and significantly reduce costs. For more information about GCF IoT chipset certification, please visit https://www.globalcertificationforum.org.
Comment on this article below or via Twitter:
- What Is an Exoskeleton Suit?
- Where can you use an ultrasonic motor?
- Smart Camera: System That You Can Use for a Wide Variety of Purposes
- Why Is the Smart Toothbrush Better Than a Regular One?
- Microcontrollers: An Integral Part of Embedded Hardware
- Air Quality Monitoring System: Why It’s So Important in Modern Realities


text:
Resellers at Cisco's Partner Velocity event in Paris have been told that the recovery is coming and been encouraged to target customers that had been deferring spending to try and get them to loosen the purse strings.
Just a matter of days after the vendor released first quarter results that indicated that the market is improving Edison Peres, senior vice president, worldwide channels go-to-market group at Cisco, said that the general economic trend was positive.
"The third quarter was the bottom, the fourth quarter the tipping point and the first quarter we have seen sequential growth," he said.
But he added the caveat that the recovery would vary depending on the geography and sector and resellers still had to work hard to "uncover pent-up demand".
"We will not see recovery all equal we will see it [emerge] market to market and around the world but we are seeing positive signals in Europe," he added "We are looking forward to continued growth over last year and quarter by quarter."
Peres said partners were under pressure to prove ROI and unlock customer spending but another consequence of the recession that many partners needed to end was the lengthening of payment times.
"There is pent-up demand, some of the large projects have become smaller and the customers are requiring ROI," he said describing the current landscape.
"Some partners have seen their suppliers change payment times from 30 days to 60 and even 90 and bringing that back is part of the recovery," he added.


text:
The driver for a lawyer told Reuters news agency that the owner of the Tesla Model S Plymid was driving when his car suddenly caught fire. Mark Garagos, owner of Zaragos & Zaragos Company, told the agency that he could not get out of the car initially because its electronic door system failed, forcing the driver to apply force to open it.
The car drove about 35 feet to 40 feet (11 to 12 meters) before it turned into a fire pit in a residential area near the owner’s Pennsylvania home. Geragos said it was a sad and horrible experience. He added that this is a brand new model and they are investigating it. Tesla did not immediately respond to a request for comment.
In April, the company owner said the new battery pack was included in the new Model S sedan and Model X Sport utility car.


text:
Struggling Japanese airbag maker Takata has filed for bankruptcy protection in a Tokyo court, following massive recalls of its products around the world. The decision came at a board meeting held today…
Tag Archives: Car
Hyundai Motor today unveiled the latest vehicle in its expanding line-up of stylish SUVs, the Kona compact SUV. With a strong, impactful design and uncompromised individuality, the Kona is designed to appeal..
Starting Friday, all newly registered electric cars and hydrogen fuel cell vehicles in South Korea must be mounted with light-blue license plates, instead of the previous white (and green for older vehicles)…
DENSO today announced that it is using bio-polycarbonate (PC) made from starch and urethane resin extracted from castor oil in some of its products. Starch-derived bio-PCs have higher surface hardness, better optical..
Toshiba today announced the launch of a 4-channel power amplifier IC -TCB502HQ that detects output offset voltage, a factor in speaker burnout. The new IC integrates a newly developed, full-time offset detection..
Mazda Roadster RF (known as MX-5 RF overseas) equipped with a power retractable hardtop roof will go on sale on Dec. 22 at Mazda dealerships throughout Japan. While remaining true to its..
Infiniti to present world’s first production-ready variable compression ratio engine at 2016 Paris Motor Show
Infiniti will present VC-T (Variable Compression-Turbocharged), the world’s first production-ready variable compression ratio engine and one of the most advanced internal combustion engines ever created, on September 29 at the 2016 Paris..
Ford Motor with Jose Cuervo is exploring the use of the tequila producer’s agave plant byproduct to develop more sustainable bioplastics to employ in Ford vehicles. Ford and Jose Cuervo are testing..
Nissan’s new Serena minivan, scheduled to go on sale in Japan in late August will come equipped with Nissan’s ProPILOT autonomous drive technology. The ProPilot will be the first auto-driving system to..


text:
Pattaya City Municipality is getting ready to purchase electrical automobiles for its public transport system, to enhance the surroundings under its Neo Pattaya project. We communicate with industry specialists, insiders and Automotive News reporters about events and tendencies Automotive repair impacting and reshaping the automotive industry. The firm which currently sells electric SUV ZS EV will launch an electrical crossover automobile based mostly on a worldwide platform but customised for the Indian market as its subsequent new product.
- Washington state is also halting orders for the 2 high-performance vehicles.
- Mercedes-Benz will soon open its order banks for consumers hoping to be among the many first to own the 2022 Mercedes-Benz EQS electric luxurious sedan.
- A panel of 50 automotive journalists from the us and Canada have introduced the winners of the North American Car, Truck, and SUV awards for the 2021 model yr.
- According to a Deloitte and Automotive News survey, women make up only 1 / 4 of automotive manufacturing staff within the United States.
On Nov. 5, Rivian upped the anticipated worth vary from $57-$62, then upsized the number of shares on Nov. 9. One of many vehicles Great Wall has on display on the Guangzhou Auto Show. In response to the reader who complained about solar blindness, a number of folks wrote in with options. Either that, or it’s the evaporation effect after the wheel meeting crossed into our universe.
But just to boost matters, Kia has revealed the design sketches of the folks mover. The Toyota Hilux shares its chassis set-up with the Toyota Fortuner and can in all probability share its tools too, including a model Automotive Accessories new layer to the infantile pick-up truck phase in India. Best Car Upholstery Cleaner (Review & Buying Guide) in 2021 Take your car’s seats from soiled and grimy to pristine and clean with one of the best automotive upholstery cleaners.
Dm Keith Adds Ford And Kia Franchises With Ringways Group Acquisition
Lexus and Subaru led the field for luxury and mass-market manufacturers, respectively. Kia Motors Corporation has revealed an bold plan to make battery-electric autos account for 1 / 4 of its international sales by 2030. This week, we mentioned shopper interest in electrical and self-driving vehicles in accordance with the newest J.D. In the absence of the Los Angeles Auto Show, automakers rolled out redesigns and announced changes massive and small.
Research & Buy Your Next Automobile
To rejoice and commemorate the Range Rover’s fiftieth birthday, a new limited-edition version of the car is coming soon to a dealership near you. The Land Rover Range Rover Fifty is predicated on the plush Autobiography trim degree and is obtainable in both standard- and long-wheelbase versions of the automobile. Mercedes-Benz is making the acquisition of an AMG GT somewhat simpler Automotive Accessories on your pockets. Not solely is the model new 2021 Mercedes-AMG GT 43 4-door Coupe more reasonably priced thanks to a beginning worth of $89,900, but the automobile also accommodates a mild-hybrid powertrain designed to ship each efficiency and efficiency.
E Mail E-newsletter Sign
We are building the business’s most customized and efficient automotive shopping for expertise as we seek to bring extra of the purchasing process on-line. Consumers who go to our marketplace will find a suite of auto discovery instruments, worth rankings and market context on new and used cars – all with a clear view of what is an excellent deal. When they’re prepared, TrueCar will allow them to connect with a neighborhood Certified Dealer who shares in our belief that fact, transparency and equity are the inspiration of a great automotive buying expertise.


text:
- Small and midsize businesses can often face greater challenges than larger companies in facing challenges such as those brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic
- However, the resiliency and agility enjoyed by these companies can also help them adapt to crises
- Tips on how businesses can improve their adaptability in facing new challenges
Summary by Dirk Langeveld
It’s been a tough couple of years for businesses, with as the shutdowns caused by the COVID-19 pandemic have been followed by numerous other challenges like labor shortages, supply chain disruptions, and rising inflation.
Small and midsize businesses may seem to be in a less advantageous position to cope with such prolonged headwinds, since they are more limited in their staff and financial resources. Yet a recent article in Entrepreneur by Steve Arizpe, president and COO of human resources and business performance consulting company Insperity, suggests that smaller companies have more agility and resilience, allowing them to quickly pivot to adapt to such crises.
Arizpe also offers tips on improving your company’s adaptability, including evaluating your company foundation to make sure it can support such changes; evaluating and updating your business plans, including identifying growth opportunities and soliciting feedback from employees; committing to long-term strategies instead of wavering on policies; and building rapport with employees and encouraging them to offer innovative solutions.
The full article is available here.


text:
Food and beverage category recorded the highest online commerce growth in the USA in 2020 in the wake of COVID-19 according to a report by eMarketer.
The research shows how the pandemic has accelerated many of the long-term trends facing brands.
ViacomCBS is directly looking for a Manager Bi & Research EMEAA (Temporary)
While setting up the framework for offering loyalty programme remains a challenge for retailers, it has proven effective for retailers to earn new clients while cultivating relationships both short and long term.
For the first time in history, China overtook the US in 2020 as the Euro Area's (EA) top trading partner.
Even as a sizeable population of US citizens embrace the 5G network hundreds of millions are still not accessing the technology.
Kantar, the world’s data, insights and consulting company, has announced the addition of Jeremy Schwartz, former CEO of The Body Shop and Pandora, to the leadership team of Kantar’s Sustainable Transformation Practice.
Consumers are more frequently and collectively demanding brands drive purpose and positive change, leaving nobody safe from call-out culture and backlash for less ethical decisions.
IPG Mediabrands has released its latest Media Responsibility Index, a quantitative report that strives to raise industry standards around brand safety and media responsibility in advertising.
In what is poised to be historic and a global first, 52.1 per cent of all retail sales in China this year will be from ecommerce according to a forecast by emarketer.
Top level support, the freedom to take decisions and investment in training are critical enablers for achieving real change and creating a marketing organisation that is future fit, according to a new report from WFA.
As companies continue to introduce new ways to handle bullies, over half of US adults have expressed their opinions on the subject insisting that bullies should be dealt with once and for all.
Through 2022, 50% of large organizations will have failed to unify engagement channels, resulting in a disjointed and siloed customer experience that lacks context, according to Gartner, Inc.
Even as digital platforms continue to eclipse traditional TV, the TV advertising spending is still intact as events of recent past including Super Bowl have shown.
MeMo² is directly looking for a Python Data Analyst (Groningen - part time)
Generation X, commonly referred as Gen Xers have been known for above average income, household and spend with technology shaping a big part of their spending patterns.
Isobar has launched a whitepaper to provide insights and inspiration specifically for CMOs in the automotive industry.
MeMo² is directly looking for a Brand & Crossmedia Research Consultant (fulltime)
Marketers have long created multiple video ad lengths but with more innovative technology, there is now ability to deliver those ads in a desired sequence.
Global advertising investment is forecast to grow by 5.8% globally in 2021, according to the first dentsu Ad Spend Report since the global pandemic began.
In the wake of the novel coronavirus, US adults spent an extra hour daily across all devices compared to what they did in 2019, the highest jump since 2020 according to the latest forecast by eMarketer.
Nielsen has announced that it is launching its Theatrical Video On-Demand (TVOD) measurement service as a way to capture viewing to movie releases that are directly available to consumers to rent or purchase on demand.
US advertisers spent an extra $1.16 billion on programmatic connected TV video ads in 2020 from what they spent in 2019, with that spend expect to grow to $2.37 billion in 2021.
The world's influencer marketing platform industry is projected to grow from $6,015 million in 2020 to $24,076 million by 2025, at a Compounded annual growth rate of 32 per cent during the forecast period.
Expanding on Isobar’s annual Augmented Humanity report, the cross-dentsu effort explores consumer-driven trends that provide businesses and brands with new opportunities.
Media owners’ advertising revenues decreased from $594 billion in 2019 to $569 billion in 2020 according to the latest MAGNA study of global advertising market trends.
Brand Finance has created a unique model capable of forecasting sales growth as a result of long-term brand equity and brand awareness.
Mike Shehan, co-founder and CEO at SpotX SpotX, the global video advertising platform, has announced the release of its “2021 Global Video Advertising Trends” report.
Gartner, Inc. has revealed its top marketing predictions for 2021 and beyond exploring how post-pandemic renewal strategies put marketing on the hook for redefining and reestablishing customer relationships.
Bain & Company and Nielsen Global Connect have entered into a non-exclusive agreement with the aim of helping the consumer packaged goods (CPG) industry improve their commercial capabilities in the areas of pricing.
In the third quarter of 2020, Facebook inched closer to becoming the first social network with 3 billion users
Kantar, the global data, insights and consulting company has announced the appointment of Chris Petranto to Global Head of Kantar Analytics.
Amid the COVID-19 crisis, the global market for Advertising Agencies estimated at $181.3 Billion in the year 2020, is projected to reach a revised size of $210.5 Billion by 2027.
Nielsen Holdings plc. has announced that it has signed a definitive agreement under which affiliates of Advent International in partnership with James “Jim” Peck, former Chief Executive Officer of TransUnion, will acquire the Nielsen Global Connect business for $2.7 billion.
The demise of third-party cookies, heightened consumer sensitivity to messaging, and tightening of marketing budgets have restricted personalization opportunities, according to Gartner, Inc.
MeMo² is directly looking for a Brand & Crossmedia Research Consultant (fulltime).
MeMo² is directly looking for a Python Developer for Automatization (Part-time).
As the world has continued to innovate, ad personalization has remained one of the more effective tools out there to help brands deliver more relevant ad experiences.
Ascend2, a market research firm, in partnership with Verse, today unveiled a new survey of more than 250 marketing and sales professionals, The State of Lead Conversion in Marketing and Sales.
Major multinationals are starting to increase their ad spend but overall activity still remains lower across most channels compared to what was planned pre-pandemic, according to WFA’s latest Crisis Response Tracker.
Isobar’s exclusive study of over 1350 global Chief Marketing Officers, CMOs, has assessed the evolution of customer experience design in the age of Covid-19 and beyond.
New research published by the training body Target Internet in partnership with the Chartered Institute of Marketing (CIM) reveals a significant lack of digital skills among just over 500 marketers working in the charity sector.
The Chief Marketing Officer (CMO) Council in partnership with Cision has published a new report - Bridging the Gap for Comms & Marketing: Building Cohesion in the Age of Customer Disruption.
A survey of current UK marketing priorities from the Chartered Institute of Marketing reveals that brand reputation remains key in coping with COVID-19.
World Federation of Advertisers has unveiled an advertiser-centric Framework for cross-media measurement – the “holy grail” for marketers.
For the first time in its 13-year history, the renowned Global Innovation Index includes brand value as one of its core indicators.
Dutch supermarkets offer chicken meat that is more sustainable without any anticompetitive agreements, study
Dutch supermarkets nowadays offer a lot more chicken-meat varieties where the chickens have lived better lives.


text: Foreign car companies are highly excited about the potential impact of motor vehicle financing, but analysts say credit risk and a cultural aversion to credit buying mean it will take time for the sector to take off. A report by Standard & Poor's in March said the growing availability of loans would spur car sales in emerging markets such as China. But despite the optimism, credit car sales have been relatively modest since approval for the establishment of finance institutions in 2004. So far, GM, Volkswagen, Ford, Toyota and DaimlerChrysler are approved to provide financing. The Bank of China has formed a joint venture with Banque PSA Finance, an arm of PSA Peugeot Citreon, and Dongfeng Automobile Co. Ford said retail financing was being offered to customers in Beijing, Shanghai, Guangzhou, Shenzhen and several other cities. Car financing has had a short, but troubled history in China. Domestic banks aggressively jumped into the market in 2003 in co-operation with car dealers, but after bad loans started to pile up in mid-2004, the government told them to step back. According to a report in the Shanghai Daily newspaper in December, the non-performing ratio of car loans at commercial banks averaged 10 per cent at the end of last year. A western analyst said many buyers stopped paying back their loans after they realised the cars they purchased were worth less than what they owed on them. 'People defaulted because they thought they were being ripped off,' he said. 'They had no experience with financing before.' Christian Weidemann, general manager of GMAC-SAIC, said car financing was one of the most important marketing tools for manufacturers, adding that GMAC was confident about the future of financing 'although it will take a while to really develop'. Analysts say that on average only about 10 per cent of buyers use financing, compared with up to 85 per cent in the United States and the EU. GM said just 6.3 per cent of its nationwide sales in China were financed. Mr Weidemann said part of the small numbers was because the company offered retail financing at just 236 GM dealerships in 58 cities. Shanghai GM has 400 dealerships around China. 'Of course, compared with other countries like the US or EU, the overall rate for China's auto finance penetration is still low, mainly due to consumer behaviour,' says Mr Weidemann. 'We believe it will take time for the consumers to change.' The biggest obstacle to the expansion of financing is the lack of a reliable credit-rating mechanism. 'We build into our policy an expectation of some defaults,' said Kenneth Hsu, vice-president for public affairs at Ford Motor (China). 'This is the reality of the China market, it's the same in other developing markets.' Mr Weidemann said that in the future, the company hoped to access the new nationwide credit bureau that was introduced earlier this year. 'This would, on a macroeconomic level, improve efficiencies in the lending process,' he said. He declined to give figures for the firm's default rate in China, only saying that it was 'marginal'. DailmlerChrysler has said it would employ an in-house team to do background checks for loans, a process that would include home visits. The company will also require buyers to pay at least 20 per cent of the purchase cost in cash. So far, the bulk of lending by foreign finance companies has gone to dealerships. Mr Weidemann said his company's primary focus at present was serving Shanghai GM's dealer networks. Ford Automotive Finance (China), a unit of Ford Credit, began operations in July 2005, and so far has provided financing to 60 Ford dealers with a credit line of US$100 million, primarily vehicle inventory wholesale loans for dealers. The company has plans to expand financing to dealers of other Ford brands, including Lincoln, Volvo, Land Rover and Jaguar. Mainland banks are now heading back into the market, but with stricter requirements set by the government, such as a 20 per cent down payment on car purchases. China Construction Bank has doubled the salary requirement of buyers and its demanding more background information, while other banks are planning to reduce the lending period to three years from five years, or reduce the maximum loan to 40 per cent from 70 per cent of vehicle value. Timothy Dunne, of Automotive Resources Asia, said that Chinese were becoming accustomed to buying on credit and that if car financing took off it could have an impact on the market. 'As their wealth develops and the system develops, Chinese will understand the value of financing,' he said. 'If consumers begin to accept this, it could be a huge boost for the industry.'


text:
Mark Cuban’s Mavericks to Accept Dogecoin for Tickets, Merch
(Bloomberg) -- The Dallas Mavericks will begin accepting Dogecoin, the “meme” cryptocurrency frequently mentioned by Elon Musk, for purchases of both tickets and merchandise.
“Sometimes in business you have to do things that are fun,” Mavericks owner Mark Cuban said Thursday in a statement. “Because we can, we have chosen to do so.”
BitPay Inc., a provider of cryptocurrency payment services, announced the new payment option in a press release and said it believed the industry was “reaching an inflection point that will forever change consumer confidence, trust and pave the way for blockchain payments to disrupt the way consumers and businesses receive and spend funds.”
The move is not the first of its kind for the Mavericks, which in 2019 began accepting Bitcoin for game tickets and merchandise. The NBA team also accepts Ethereum and other cryptocurrencies.
Read More: Feb. 11, Dogecoin’s Creator Is Baffled by Meteoric Rise to $9 Billion
©2021 Bloomberg L.P.


text:
Chancellor Philip Hammond has unveiled three measures to address those companies affected by the burden of higher business rates.
No business losing small business rate relief will see their bill increase next year by more than £50 a month, 90 per cent of local pubs will have a £1,000 discount on their business rates bill, and a £300 million fund will be introduced for local councils to offer discretionary relief for hard-hit cases.
Alex Marsh, managing director of Close Brothers Retail Finance says, ‘Today’s announcement by the Chancellor that small businesses facing rate hikes will receive direct relief from the government in the form of an extra cap, as well as discretionary relief through their local authority, is a step towards supporting small retailers, many of whom have serious concerns as they struggle to factor in the rate rises.
‘With more than a quarter of all retail SMEs in the UK citing high business rates as a one of their biggest challenges in competing with larger retailers – a figure which jumps to 38 per cent among London-based retail SMEs – SMEs need to use all of the tools at their disposal to offset the cost of increases.’
On top of business rate increases, inflation is creeping back up and is adding a further challenge for retailers, Marsh adds. ‘Using customer data to increase loyalty and better tailor products and services to consumer needs has never been so critical and UK retailers must respond to this if they want to survive, let alone thrive.’
Peter Finnie, managing partner at Gill Jennings & Every, agrees that the introduction of a ’transitional cap’ on business rates for companies coming out of small business relief will benefit fast-growing businesses, and is a step in the right direction.
But they do not go far enough, he adds. ‘Stronger measures, such as the three-year business rates exemption for new business proposed by Central Working in an open letter to the government earlier this week, will be necessary to ensure that startups have the security and confidence they need to set themselves on a stable footing.
‘IP in particular – the cornerstone of value for any technology business – can take some time to assess and protect, and stability is vital.’


text:
But some brands have managed to use them successfully to engage customers.Riding a wave of one such success story, beauty brand Sephora is launching two new chatbots on Facebook Messenger.When he saw an ad for the dating site Ashley Madison, which boasted 36 million members and the tagline, "Life is short, have an affair," he decided to check it out. Everyday, he received more of these come-ons — until he finally said, "Fuck it." "I'm like, ' Hey, all these women want to talk with me,'" he recalls. As anyone who's dated online knows, this is not entirely unusual. "I just figured they're not interested anymore," Russell says."' Let me go ahead and put in my credit card information.'"Russell paid 0 for 1,000 credits, which he could spend on sending replies or virtual gifts. After a few months of rejection, he didn't bother to log back on Ashley Madison again.
In other words, a chatbot can talk to a fan as if it was a human,” he says via email.Facebook unveiled its bots for Messenger Platform in April, allowing businesses to communicate with its users through chatbots (under certain parameters) right in an interface that billions of people already use.Even the White House Facebook page has a chatbot that walks people through the process of sending questions or feedback to President Obama.“Fifty Shades Darker” is officially out in theaters, and you know what that means: Groups of thirsty AF girls will gather into theaters across America, disguising their animalistic desires to watch soft-core porn on the big screen as a “fun gal's night out! Which is why this Christian Grey Facebook Messenger chatbot is AMAZING. I am unapologetic about the fact that “Fifty Shades” is a fun fantasy for me to slip into when I get sick of men in the real world.


text:
KT launches web novel platform using blockchainMobile carrier KT on Tuesday launched a blockchain technology-applied platform for web novel writers dubbed Blice.
Independent novel writers can upload their work for sale on Blice. The platform is able to recommend certain novels to customers based on big data analysis. The platform uses the latest blockchain technology to enhance data protection for writers and consumers, KT said.
The mobile carrier’s blockchain technology specializes in managing digital documents, including contract papers. Once its technology is upgraded, KT said it can even monitor for plagiarism.
The app works on both Android and iOS.
By Kim Jee-hee
More in Industry
Big business recoils at new legal legislation
Hyundai Mobis has developed a hydrogen-powered forklift
Asiana adapts passenger plane to carry more cargo
Eastar Jet CEO threatens to sue pilot union for libel


text:
The term “functional food” might not be in the mainstream vocabulary—it’s not even that common of a term for the brands interviewed for this story—but the idea of food as medicine and fuel is certainly becoming mainstream with the popularization of superfoods, juice cleanses, and customized diets.
“People want more from food than just filling their hunger,” says Danielle DuBoise, co-CEO and cofounder of plant-based meal delivery service Sakara Life. That’s where the “function” of “functional foods” comes in. They are simply foods that serve a specific health function. For example, açai berries, one of the first superfoods leading this movement, are high in antioxidants, which help protect cells from damage. Likewise, collagen is known as a great beauty booster, as it helps make skin and hair cells stronger, and bee pollen’s vitamin-, mineral-, and enzyme-rich composition helps build a better immune system.
Trending functional ingredients today include high-protein hemp, which is included in seed form in the Living Caesar salad at four-unit Massachusetts brand Life Alive, and in powder form in 19-location Protein Bar & Kitchen’s riced cauliflower and lentil soup. “Offering a way for our guests to lower their carbohydrates while keeping the level of protein in their meal, and doing it in a way that makes it more delicious, was game-changing for us,” says Venecia Willis, Protein Bar & Kitchen’s culinary operations manager, of the brand’s hemp addition.
Turmeric has also been trending in menu items like Life Alive’s Turmeric Broccoli Detox Soup. “We make functional foods accessible so there is very little barrier or intimidation for people,” says Leah Dubois, Life Alive culinary director. Or, at Village Den in New York City (the fast casual cofounded by Antoni Porowski of Netflix Queer Eye fame), customers can get their turmeric fix in a side of roasted cauliflower.
Many popular functional foods are actually quite common and might not, at first glance, be understood as functional. That includes the salmon found in the Atlantic Salmon Salad, Grilled Salmon Pasta, and Paleo Salmon Tacos at eight-unit Texas fast casual bellagreen. “Salmon is a great functional food because it’s rich in omega-3 fatty acids, which are known to fight inflammation, promote a healthy heart, and can even fight depression and anxiety,” says Jason Morgan, CEO.
Brand spotlight /
Nuts like walnuts, almonds, and cashews are also pumping up menu items with flavor and nutrients. Sixteen-unit brand Flower Child, for instance, has the goal of sprinkling functional foods throughout the menu, and garnishes its kale salad with smoked almonds while also topping a quinoa bowl with a sauce made from cashews.
The whole-grains movement, something that has been pushed in health for decades, is finding new life in a wider variety of grains, like black rice, quinoa, and barley. For example, Chick-fil-A took pains in developing a gluten-free bun that was not only free of gluten for those who are intolerant, but also nutrient-dense. “The gluten-free products that are out there in general are all starches,” says Jim Painter, Chick-fil-A nutrition consultant. When refined, flours lose 60–80 percent of their nutrients, he says, making them very high on the glycemic index. Chick-fil-A’s solution for the bun that was released in June 2017 was to use a new variety of alternative grains like sorghum, quinoa, and amaranth.
With more customers understanding the importance of whole foods and demanding transparency from menus, the goal for brands like Chick-fil-A is to find a whole-food solution that still tastes great. “No functional benefit alone is going to get someone to come back to your restaurant and order again if the functional food isn’t delicious,” says Stephen Gerike, national foodservice marketing representative for the Alaska Seafood Marketing Institute (asmi). “The best way to overcome this is by using high-quality, real foods.”
Alexis Schulze, cofounder and chief visionary officer of 126-unit chain Nékter Juice Bar, shares Gerike’s sentiment. “No matter how amazing the health benefits are, if something doesn’t taste good, we won’t eat it,” she says. One of Nékter’s primary challenges offering functional foods like activated charcoal, camu camu, and dragonfruit on the menu is knowing the right way and time to launch a new ingredient that might be foreign to its wide range of guests. “We choose to introduce new ingredients that may have already gained some awareness among the mainstream consumer, and then pair these ingredients with more approachable ones. For example, we have paired collagen with blueberries and strawberries for a more approachable menu item,” Schulze says.
For brands promoting functional health food, education is key. “Our team members are educated on all of our ingredients and love to share their knowledge with guests,” Life Alive’s Dubois says. Likewise, having a clear brand purpose in the menu’s design helps Protein Bar & Kitchen, which developed a “PROTEIN PROMISE” that lets guests know that all menu items are packed with at least 15 grams of protein.
Experts project that in the future, the functional food trend will only become more prevalent, while customized diets, designed for everything from preventing illness to fueling glowing skin, will be the norm. “Personalized nutrition is more than just customized meals; it’s personalized eating,” ASMI’s Gerike says. “It’s about knowing, based on your DNA, what is best for your body to eat.” He predicts functional food messaging will become even more important.
Kayla Bauer, co-owner of Hello Juice and Smoothie in St. Louis, thinks this trend will shift the health industry away from thinking about health achieved through restrictions and toward health achieved through add-ins. Customers are going to notice the benefits of ingredients like reishi, a medicinal mushroom, or moringa, a tree with nutritious leaves, and start craving them more, she says. “Hopefully diets will be more about all the possibilities that there are in these ingredients.”


text:
The Ford Maverick compact truck has been an enormous success for the company, with Escape and Bronco Sport underpinnings. Despite its tiny stature, it’s an extremely capable little truck and versatile, which is why there’s such a high demand for it. As Ford continues to fight against the Maverick backlog, they have recently sent out a dealer memo that requests four actions from the company’s dealership network.
Ford Maverick Dealer Memo: Details
The dealer memo was posted on the Maverick Truck Club forum. The first action required for dealers is to evaluate their existing 23MY order bank to ensure customers whose 22MY orders went unscheduled will receive the highest priority code. Secondly, customers should be reminded that 35 percent of all production capacity will go to the front-wheel-drive Hybrid. Finally, the memo also requires dealers to inform existing retail order holders that they can add optional packages that are currently still available.
Commodities currently running under available capacity include the Co-Pilot 360 Package, Co-Pilot360 Assist Package, XLT Luxury Package, Lariat Luxury Package, and the Tremor Off-Road Package. The Tremor Package is a newer option introduced for 2023 and currently only has 2 percent out of 10 percent available capacity, which is quite surprising. By comparison, the Hybrid features a current retail USOB of 73 percent compared to the available capacity of 35 percent.
The memo also states that the XL trim level is running at 26 percent compared to the available capacity of 15 percent. The base configuration is also popular with customers who intend to customize their Mavericks. It’s also popular amongst cost-sensitive customers since the price is certainly more manageable, especially with current interest rates.
Additionally, Ford has addressed certain constraints on specific accessories, including the spray-in bedliner. Customers who specify the spray-in bedliner and cargo management system are offered a special discount that brings the total price down to $495. Luckily, any changes to 23MY retail orders will not impact scheduling.


text:
* Action comes after Russia rejects feed additive in meat
* Groups want FDA to study long-term impacts, restrict use
By Carey Gillam
Dec 20 (Reuters) - Food safety and animal welfare groups on Thursday filed a legal petition against the U.S. Food and Drug Administration seeking limits on an animal feed additive that is the subject of concerns about human and animal health.
Russia said earlier this month that it was requiring meat it imports to be tested and certified free of the feed additive ractopamine, a move jeopardizing the more than $500 million a year in exports of U.S. beef and pork to that country.
U.S. trade authorities have taken a stand against Russia’s sudden decision to require that meat imports be documented as free of ractopamine and have urged Russia to suspend such measures.
Ractopamine is fed to animals to accelerate growth and make their meat leaner, but countries such as China have banned its use amid concerns the additive may be harmful to the animals and that traces of the drug could persist in meat products.
In their petition to the FDA, the Center for Food Safety and the Animal Legal Defense Fund called for an immediate reduction in the allowable levels of ractopamine and asked FDA to study the long-term effect of human consumption and the impacts on animals associated with ractopamine.
“FDA’s approval for ractopamine relied primarily on safety studies conducted by the drug-maker, Elanco,” the groups said in a statement. “A review of available evidence collected from FDA and the European Food Safety Authority calls FDA’s approvals into question.”
The groups said that ractopamine is fed to an estimated 60 to 80 percent of U.S. pigs, and has resulted in more reports of sickened or dead pigs than any other livestock drug on the market. Ractopamine effects may include toxicity and other exposure risks, such as behavioral changes and cardiovascular, musculoskeletal, reproductive, and endocrine problems, the groups said.
About 160 countries ban or restrict ractopamine, including all the nations of the European Union, China, Taiwan, and Russia, the groups said.
The FDA had no immediate comment.


text:
More evidence is emerging that Apache is suffering against Redmond, after a survey revealed that Microsoft’s Internet Information Services Web server is outserving Apache on Fortune 1000 websites.
According to Port80 Software, which periodically surveys the public sites of Fortune 1000 companies to determine their use of web and application hosting technologies, Microsoft Internet Information Services 6.0 web server (IIS 6) gained 9.5 percent since August 2006, and passed IIS 5 to lead the survey for the first time, “outserving the open source Apache server and all other Web servers among Fortune 1000 sites.” Apple includes Apache on Mac OS X and Mac OS X Server — it’s part of Darwin, Mac OS X’s core foundation.
Overall, IIS 4, 5, 6, and 7 deployments continue a four year lead in the survey with a combined 55 percent share of all Fortune 1000 corporate sites, versus Apache’s 24.9 percent share.
Last week a similar survey by UK-based research firm Netcraft found that IIS continued to narrow the gap with the open-source Apache web server, suggesting that Redmond’s offering could surpass Apache as early as next year.
It found that Microsoft grew to 36.2 percent of all active websites, while Apache lost nearly a million website names, as its share of active websites fell to 48.4 percent.
“While Netcraft’s recent surveys demonstrate the rise of Microsoft’s Internet Information Services across the Internet at large, Port80 Software continues to see IIS beating Apache among leading US enterprise companies,” said Joseph Lima, Director of Product Development at Port80 Software.
“Having analyzed Fortune 1000 websites for years now, we estimate that IIS 6 penetration will continue unabated while IIS 5/Windows 2000 servers are decommissioned, with a few Apache defections along the way,” Lima added.
“If the trend from previous surveys holds, IIS 7 should be the dominant web server for Fortune 1000 sites by 2011.”
Meanwhile, Port80 Software (in a related survey) found that Microsoft ASP.NET and ASP application server environments are currently used on 51.5 percent of Fortune 1000 sites, an increase of 7.9 percent since 2005. Other application servers like Java platforms (J2EE, JSP, WebLogic, WebSphere, and Tomcat), PHP, and ColdFusion all combined account for 24 percent of Fortune 1000 site deployments. The survey says that heavier use of ASP.NET among Fortune 1000 sites is to be expected, given the prevalence of Microsoft IIS on the same sites.
So does the struggle of such a popular open source web server as Apache suggest a difficult period ahead for open source in general against Windows?
Not according to industry watcher Robin Bloor, founder and chief research officer of Bloor Research. Bloor believes in the gradual triumph of Linux and states in a recent article, that open source moves at a different speed to commercial software.
He quotes IDC figures from May 2007, which showed that Linux accounts for 12.7 percent of the server market by revenue compared to Windows with 38.8 percent of the market. “Most of the remainder is Unix, although IBM mainframe still has a share,” says Bloor.
However, he stresses these figures are for servers shipped from the major hardware makers such as HP, IBM, Sun, Dell etc, and omit “constructed servers”. Bloor points out that Google for example builds all its own servers, and is estimated to be the fourth largest builder of servers in the world – after HP, IBM, and Sun. Indeed, Google’s activity is so great says Bloor, that it distorts the market stats.
Bloor thinks Linux probably doesn’t trail Windows by much and it will almost certainly dominate in time. The determining factor, Bloor says, is the emerging economies (China, India, and Brazil) where Linux is growing at a much faster rate. He believes Linux will triumph here because it can be used to establish a local software industry with local skills, and the cost of adopting it is lower by far than any alternative.


text:
Asian suppliers to Apple Inc have begun manufacturing a lower-priced version of its hot-selling iPhone 4 with a smaller 8 gigabyte (GB) flash drive, according to two people with knowledge of the matter.
The flash drive for the 8GB iPhone 4 is being manufactured by a South Korean company, one of the people said yesterday, declining to name the company. Apple currently sources its flash drives from Japan’s Toshiba Corp and South Korea’s Samsung Electronics Co.
The sources declined to be identified because the information has not been made public. Apple and Samsung declined to comment.
The existing iPhone 4 was launched in June last year with 16GB and 32GB versions, with a white version added to the lineup in April. The 8GB version is expected to launch within weeks, the sources said.
Some analysts said the cheaper 8GB iPhone 4 could help Apple boost sales in emerging markets.
“Apple may want to push into the emerging market segment where customers want to switch to low to mid-end smartphones from high-end feature phones, which usually cost US$150 to US$200, but I think for an 8GB iPhone 4, the price is hard to go below US$200, so Apple will still need a completely new phone with low specifications for the emerging markets,” Yuanta Securities Co (元大證券) analyst Bonnie Chang (張文慧) said.
In addition to the launch of the smaller iPhone 4, Apple is targeting an end-of-next-month launch for the next-generation iPhone 5, one source said, confirming earlier reports on Apple-follower blogs and industry Web sites.
The new iPhone, which some call the iPhone 4S because of its largely identical appearance to the existing iPhone 4, will have a bigger touch screen, better antenna and an 8-megapixel camera, one of the people said.
The iPhone 5’s two manufacturers have been told to prepare production capacity for up to 45 million units, the source said. The phone will be made by Hon Hai Precision Industry Co (鴻海) and Pegatron Corp (和碩), the person added.
Apple sold 20.34 million iPhones in the second quarter versus an expected 17 million to 18 million and it is increasingly looking to Asia to boost future earnings.
The company’s chief operating officer Tim Cook said last month the company is particularly optimistic about the Greater China market.
“I firmly believe that we are just scratching the surface right now,” Cook said about China. “I think there is an incredible opportunity for China there.”
The Asia-Pacific region — which accounts for about one-fifth of its total revenue — and Greater China in particular helped Apple’s revenues surge 82 percent to US$28.6 billion in the April-to-June period.
Overall, revenues in the Asia-Pacific region more than tripled to US$6.3 billion in the quarter.


text:
UPS Adds Surcharges for Shipping as it Faces a Flood of Packages
Click the image below to enlarge the infographic.
- United Parcel Service (UPS) has added surcharges to high volume shippers as the number of packages have spiked amid the holiday season
- The shipping company stated Friday that it has added extra fees for some packages, depending on the weight and volume of the packages
- The charges, the company said, are aimed at coping with the surge of packages in the upcoming holiday season
- The company's rival, FedEx, has also added surchages to international shipments beginning April 6
- FedEx reported on its website that the increased fees were because the coronavirus restrictions had made it more difficult to move goods across the globe


text:
Continue to Business Insider »
You will be redirected in seconds.
The bad jobs report boosts the likelihood of more QE.
Hence the dollar getting mauled against the yen right now.
QE is back?
How data is saving the retail industry
More "Digital Business Decoded" »
3 types of insurance that can protect your family for years to come
More "World 2.0" »


text:
A new study came out today reported by Vox.com showing that Americans now spend 8 hours a day consuming media on their various screen. If you create media messages, it’s the best of times, there’s never been a better time in history. Unfortunately, since there are now about 8 billion web posts, videos, tweets, and books being posted every minute of the day, it’s the worst of times for producers of media messages, if they want people to actually consume their messages.
Increasingly, the hardest skill to teach and master for anyone who aspires to communicate to larger audiences is this: how to be interesting. Whether it is what you say or who you are, the rarest commodity is saying something or being interesting.
And if you aren’t willing to distribute a sex tape, like Kim Kardashian, or reveal all about your change in gender, it can be even harder.
Too many people, when they begin the process of drafting a press release, new website or even a book, focus primarily on gathering as many facts as possible. But that is the wrong focus. In an internet era, there is almost no value to facts, because they can be found instantly for free.
The first focus for anyone drafting a press release, web page or book should be answering this question:
“What is the one idea or message I have that will truly stand out as interesting, memorable, different and unique to people?”
Don’t go to step two until you’ve answered that question. If you can’t come up with an answer to that question, maybe you shouldn’t bother putting out a release, web page or book, because it’s unlikely you can get more than 5 people to look at it. In that case, just call up the five people and tell it to them. It will be cheaper and faster for you and a better experience for those five people.
TJ Walker is president of Media Training Worldwide. You can find his online training courses here. https://www.mediatrainingworldwide.com/online-training.html


text:
According to a new report by GlobalData, the penetration of online sales reached just over 31% of total sales in the UK and almost 21% in the US. In France online channel penetration reached just over 17% and Germany saw almost 18%. Even Spain and Italy, where online selling is more embryonic, posted an increase in penetration to 9.1% and 8.9% of total retail sales, respectively.
“The usual narrative of online dominating the retail landscape is too simplistic and does not address some of the nuanced shifts occurring in the retail market. Over 2020, retailers moved quickly to make their operations more multichannel and get stores to do some of the heavy lifting in servicing online orders,” said Neil Saunders, Head of Retail at GlobalData.
“Consumers found options such as collect-from-store shopping and curbside collection very convenient. This is one of the reasons why orders collected from store more than doubled in the US over the holidays, and why countries such as Italy, where online has traditionally been less significant, retailers quickly educated shoppers to the benefits of store-collection.”
In Spain, multichannel accounted for 28% of online sales, up from 26% in the holiday period of 2019. In Italy, the same number was 27% in 2020, up from 24% in 2019.
In France and Germany, multichannel accounted for 21% and 31% of online sales, respectively. Both were slightly up from 2019.
“Although gains in France and Germany were very marginal, the fact that multichannel increased at all is remarkable – given that many non-essential shops were forced to close for part of the trading period,” he said.
The only country where multichannel sales fell was the UK because non-essential physical stores were closed for most of the holiday period, which reduced the number of people browsing in store before buying online.
In addition to exploring the growth of multichannel, the report also assesses how much of the accelerated online grow was a function of true underlying consumer demand and how much was fueled by pandemic factors such as lockdowns and consumer health concerns.
In all countries, the research found that the pandemic temporarily inflated online penetration. In the UK, where there was a severe lockdown, online penetration increased by almost 12 percentage points solely because of pandemic-related factors. In France, the same figure was four percentage points, and in Germany it was just over three percentage points. In Italy the pandemic inflated online penetration by just over two percentage points. Finally, Spain, which had the shortest shut-down of non-essential stores among European countries studied, had the lowest uplift of just under two percentage points. The US, where the retail economy was open over the holidays, had the second lowest uplift of two percentage points.
Although these figures are only a guide to the effect of the pandemic, they underline the importance of not completely extrapolating online penetration during an exceptional time to future periods when circumstances will normalize.
“When all UK non-essential stores were closed for most of the holidays, more consumers were forced to shop online. This is an exceptional event that is not driven by natural shopper preferences. Online penetration will come down as the European economies open back up,” he added.
A report from Bain & Company has revealed that the emergence of some positive shopping trendsMay 9, 2021 | By RetailME Bureau
UAE-based RAW recently announced that it would be extending its GCC operations,May 4, 2021 | By Bilal Syed
UAE-based Carrefour announced its theme and plans for Ramadan 2021. The brand
Locally owned supermarket Spinneys celebrates 60 years of doing business in the
UAE-based Carrefour will become the first retailer in the region to offer new levels
The Organic Farmers’ Market is back in Bay Avenue for its 12th
UAE-based Lulu Group recently inaugurated its first-ever all-female staff store in Jeddah,
Jones the Grocer, the gourmet grocer and cheese retailer launches the Jones
UAE-based Al Maya Supermarkets is hosting a two-week food festival at select
Locally-owned supermarket Spinneys has launched its ‘Power of Plants’ initiative in the
Carrefour UAE has launched “Cookit Yourself” — a curated recipe box created
UAE-based Al Islami Foods, one of the largest frozen food companies in
Marks & Spencer’s plant-based range now offers over 25 vegan products including meat-free
World’s largest fully integrated online brand in fresh fish and meat e-commerce
Saudi-based grocery retail operator BinDawood Holding Co. has reported its first quarter
A report from Bain & Company has revealed that the emergence of some positive shopping trends
Words by Pankaj Kumar, Head Omnichannel Retail at Jumbo Group With the latest
Amazon.com Inc. will supplant Walmart Inc. as the biggest U.S. retailer by 2025, according to
The once powerful department stores that anchored malls and streets around the
Words by Hozefa Saylawala – Middle East Sales Director, Zebra Technologies By the
Who isn’t a sucker for discounts? Customers today are spoiled for choice
On 12th October, 2020, Oman announced that it would implement Value Added
In a 180-degree turn from 2020, retailers’ expansion plans are outpacing plans
The UAE currently leads the Middle East and North Africa (MENA) region
Research by GlobalData found that eBay’s job postings in the US and
Industry reports reveal global home automation system market expected to grow from